twenty seventh...

apples ripening on the tree, made our own lemonade, and watched the King's Speech

twenty-fourth...

beautiful blooms on the flower stall, bought new school shoes today, Pete appeared on The One Show on Monday vaccinating badgers - did you see it?

seventeeth...

a lovely day spent outdoors with the boys and my goddaughter, we met Chester and Teddy the Chalford donkeys, learnt all about them and how to groom and lead them and clean their hooves, Anna, their owner, then packed a picnic in panniers and we all went for a walk, collecting wood along the way to light a fire with. We all then enjoyed a picnic lunch and toasted marshmallows whilst the donkeys ate their favourite snack of thistles around us.

fourteenth...

an overnight camp, beans for breakfast in the sunshine, unfortunately it was too cloudy to see the Perseid meteor shower!

thirteenth...

a bowl of blackberries picked yesterday, in my new bowl, just 50p from the bric-a-brac stall. I'm going to make some fruit leathers with these blackberries. 

twelfth...

went early to the WI market and bought a bunch of flowers and some homegrown veg, then bought two walking sticks from the bric-a-brac stall to help us reach the tall blackberry bushes, packed a picnic lunch in large handkerchiefs (Dick Whittington style) for our blackberry foraging walk, a good day.

eleven...

meant to be camping this weekend, of course the forecast is rain! Am so proud of my friend Leonie who has just launched New Zealand creative retreats which looks amazing! 

tenth...

I'm a working mum, and quite frankly the work/life balance is the most difficult thing in the world to juggle! I have decided to write about this today, as the summer holidays evoke a feeling of longing for me, a guilty feeling that I should be at home, spending the long hazy days of summer just hanging out with my boys, who are growing up so quickly in front of my eyes.

To be a working mother isn't a choice I made, I had to go back to work in order to afford to pay the bills. It's hard when I read opinions that criticise working mum's, it's even harder when I read about stay at home mum's, which I long to be. I work part time, 28 hours a week during school hours so I can pick up the children from the school gates, which is important to me. But I do feel guilty that during the school holidays they are shipped off daily to grandma (thank goodness for grandma!)

I love my job and my employer is amazing by accommodating my desire to work flexibly, but it's all about give-and-take, and I often have to catch up late at night when the children are in bed! A few weeks ago when I was on my mobile phone talking to a national newspaper journalist after work, my five year old came into the kitchen and passed his earwax to me with a loud "mum, here is my earwax, look!" I carried on talking, quickly swapping his earwax for a bourbon biscuit to keep him quiet.

Some days I feel like Worzel Gummidge, wearing two different heads for my two different roles. I don't always get it right, sometimes when trying to finish something for work at home, I will be quite irritable or snip at the boys, which is the worst feeling in the world. And don't mention the housework, that always gets pushed down the priority list. It's a difficult balance that I strive to find and sometimes is impossible to achieve!

ninth...

dreaming of adventures, yearning for camping trips in the bell tent, ordered my 2012 moleskine diary, how amazing is this pick your own flower field? 

eighth...

overslept this morning, been feeling run down and a bit out of sorts all day, taken vitamin C, early night needed but so much to do first! These are my favourite bowls with a gorgeous rose print inside - a 50p bargain from my favourite market stall. 

seventh...

Yesterday we went on a trip to see Treasure Island, and discovered Bristol's Wow! Gorillas, today treasure of a different sort at the car boot sale, we bought a preserving pan, an old deckchair and a book of boys stories. The car boot was quiet today and not enough stuff!

sixth...

a full english for breakfast, excitedly read the article that I helped facilitate earlier this week and was pleased with our mention and great final quote, shouted my support "pull, PULL!" at the village tug of war last night, drank a little too much cider (hic) and the children went feral - but in a good way!

fifth...

added yet another few cups to the vintage china collection, had the best latte in town and fell in love with this simply beautiful film. 

fourth...

picture by McKinley-Rogers Photography

it's our tenth wedding anniversary today! Apparently couples are meant to look like each other, I can't see it myself, but maybe in another ten years we will be sporting matching clothes 'Harold and Hilda' style!

third...

met a lovely journalist at work, saluated to a single magpie as I drove past, was taken out for afternoon tea so wore my pearls, made pea, courgette and garden mint risotto from the garden, went to an apple day meeting and stayed up late talking about all things apple! 

second...

I stayed up 'til midnight making jam, the boys labelled the jars with their best handwriting, another hot day, shopped for a new font at work, picked sweet peas from grandmas garden.

first...

sweltering heat, my office was boiling as it's in the roof, ice creams for lunch, i hate working in school holidays, quick dip in the pool to cool off this evening, think we'll be sleeping on top of the covers tonight, must remember to put rubbish out!

august...